The Crafty Art of Playmaking (review)

Alan Ayckbourn's introduction to The Crafty Art of Playmaking offers three clear hints about what to expect in the rather brief book. First, as a writer/director who stages his own plays, Ayckbourn admits to having trouble separating the usually disparate activities. And although he divides the ensuing text into two sections, his instincts as a director quietly inform the content of the one labeled "WRITING," while his sensibilities as a playwright subtly shape the material in the one called "DIRECTING." Ayckbourn's cross-functional perspective no doubt contributes to his professional success. It likewise contributes to the appeal of his treatise. Indeed, the book's value lies primarily in the author's offhand expressions of his practical wisdom. Who but someone with Ayckbourn's wealth of experience could note, in discussing the challenge of creating sympathy for a character of unconventional morality, "Going to need an actress with a great deal of charm. (Charm is very difficult to write.)" (17)?

Ayckbourn provides a second early indication of the volume's substance through his frank assertion that any aspect of his process not unique to him "is really just plain common sense" (ix). He quickly, and rightly, points out the need for theatre practitioners periodically to remind ourselves of seemingly self-evident precepts. He then makes the most of this conceit by sprinkling 101 "Obvious Rules" throughout the book. Many of these rules, such as "No. 15: Remember that your characters are eventually going to be played by actors" (36), fulfill their stated purpose. Some even impart less-than-obvious lessons. In his explanation of the superficially amusing "No. 87: If you can't hold your liquor, never drink with actors" (156), Ayckbourn emphasizes how easy—and dangerous—it is to lose credibility with the company. A few of the rules, however, imply biases that seem particularly jarring coming from someone who defines directing as "the art of responding to the needs of others" (99). In the page and a half he devotes to costumes, for example, Ayckbourn does little to offset the demeaning spirit of "Obvious Rule No. 51: Beware the manic-depressive costume designer" (120). Ayckbourn also occasionally fails to distinguish between the obvious and the unique. As a result, his ostensible "how-to manual" could confuse as much as enlighten some readers, such as the untutored playwright told that charm is easier to cast than to write, or the inexperienced director warned to be prepared for unspecified "faint distress signals" given out by actors in need of guidance (147). The section on directing suffers most from this shortcoming. The overall tone suggests a target audience of novices, but a fair amount of the actual content deals with circumstances which that group is unlikely to face, such as responding to solicitations from producers. Still, Ayckbourn does impart tidbits of advice valuable to most directors. To help actors make convincing choices, he suggests coaching them through imagery—"enter the room as if announcing a sudden death"—instead of relying on technical instruction about "tiptoeing and using hushed tones" (153).

Ayckbourn wraps up his introduction with a "mild apology" about a third salient feature of the book: the vast majority of the examples he cites are from his own plays, which quite logically were "the readiest to hand and the easiest to recall" (x). His close familiarity with that material ultimately proves to be both an advantage and a disadvantage. In some instances, Ayckbourn's elucidations of the excerpts not only illustrate key ideas, but also convey a sense of the process of playwriting. "Of course, all this was back-plotted" (78), he remarks about a series of passages quoted to demonstrate the potential of props as triggers for conflict. In other instances, however, he fails to make his point explicit by casually (and frustratingly) referring to works without summarizing their relevant traits. All told, extracted dialogue accounts for more than a quarter of the section on writing. Ayckbourn shares far fewer examples of his experience as a director...